


The Plan

by CallMeMilady (fairegirl22)



Series: Love Jumps into the Mouth of a Dinosaur [7]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2019-03-05 21:52:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13396980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairegirl22/pseuds/CallMeMilady
Summary: Marinette goes to talk with Adrien and begins to formulate a plan.What are friends for, right?





	The Plan

**Author's Note:**

> As always, I wouldn't be able to do this without my dear friends - Letters2Elvinscend, who's a great sounding board, and Izzi456 who fixes all of my grammar mistakes.
> 
> The timeline goes like this:
> 
> 1\. The First Meeting (Part 1)  
> 2\. The Playdate (Part 2)  
> 3\. The Review (Part 6)  
> 4\. The First Kiss (Part 3)  
> 5\. The Heartbreak (Part 4)  
> 6\. The Dinosaur (Part 5)  
> 7\. The Plan (Part 7)

On a Saturday morning, Marinette’s phone buzzed. There are few sounds as innocuous yet daming as a strange text mid-morning and this was no exception. Noticing that Marinette was too engrossed in her sketchbook to bother standing, Tikki flew over to read it.

“Marinette,” the Kwami called out. “You have a text from Alya. It says ‘O-M-G I just realized you went on a date with my soulmate.’”

Marinette paused in the middle of drawing a line and knit her eyebrows together. She never went on any date with Nino.

“What?”

Tikki gave the best resemblance of a shrug a kwami could do. “Maybe it was when you went to the zoo yesterday?”

She shook her head. “But I was supposed to meet up with Adrien.” Something wasn't right, and with a building sense of foreboding, Marinette picked up the phone to call Alya.

“What do you mean, I went on a date with Nino?” she asked in lieu of a greeting.

“Well hello to you, too.” Alya’s voice rang out from the tiny speakers, clearly unimpressed. Somehow, Marinette was sure that the phone lines hadn't quite been able to transfer the full range of emotion swirling in her friend’s voice. 

“Sorry,” Marinette sighed. Just because Alya sent a very confusing text, it didn’t mean that she should be rude to her friend. “I just don’t get why you think I ever went on a date with Nino.” 

“It was yesterday,” she said with a hint of amusement. “Adrien set you up on a date with Nino. I guess we were both a bit confused, but Adrien was helping Nino get a date with you.” 

Marinette practically choked on her own spit. A startled, “What?” blared through the line.

There was no way Alya was right--Adrien wouldn’t set her up on a date with someone else. Still, looking back with sudden clarity, Adrien _had_ been acting weird. Marinette had been so sure he finally wanted to talk but then he had never shown up and...

A tiny seed of doubt grew in her head, and it got bigger than she cared to admit to herself.

“Yeah,” Alya continued, clueless to her predicament, “turns out Nino had a crush on you. Adrien was just helping him out.”

_Helped him out? Is that what happened? Adrien tried to set her up on a date with someone else without her permission?!?_

Marinette huffed harshly and politely said, “Thank you for the useful information Alya. I have to go now.” And hung up in the middle of Alya’s goodbye.

“Did you hear that Tikki? He tried to set me up with someone else!” Marinette jumped out of her chair. Too many thoughts and emotions bombarded her at once: anger, confusion, hurt, and then back to anger. “How _could he_ ? _”_

“But you’re soulmates,” Tikki’s voice rang with confusion.

Marinette shook her head. “I need to go have a chat with that boy,” she seethed.

Pulling up her contact list and scrolling down, her finger hovered for a moment over Nathalie’s name before she pressed call.

She kept the conversation short; only confirming that a car would soon come over to drive her and that Adrien was at the Manor, before promptly hanging up. Some part of her was horrified at her rudeness, first to her friend and now Nathalie, but it was easy to stomp that part out when she remembered what Adrien had done.

These thoughts accompanied her on her ride over to the Manor and Marinette could barely wait for the car to come to a complete stop in front of the house before storming through the front doors and into Adrien’s room.

She shoved open the door to Adrien’s room and found Adrien on the computer, scrolling through the LadyBlog. If she wasn’t this angry at him, she might’ve felt flattered.

“Adrien Pascal Agreste, I cannot believe you!” she growled, spinning his chair around so he faced her.

He looked up, startled. His surprise soon changed into confusion when he realized it was Marinette. She hadn’t stepped foot in this room since their argument over a year ago and there had been little change to the layout except in the boy sitting there now who was almost unrecognizable to her. 

_Does she even know who he is anymore?_  

“You set me up on a date with Nino?” 

Adrien blinked a couple times. “Uh yes? You knew. You agreed to it,” he pointed out, tilting his head to the side. 

Marinette shook her head. “No. No I didn’t know.” She put her hands on her hips with her upper lip curled. The silence lasted between them, with Marinette glaring down at an uncomfortable looking Adrien. 

She gave him another minute to sweat before continuing, “Why would I go on a date with Nino? If you can remember, _I already have a soulmate.”_  

Adrien let out a humorless scoff. “I guess you didn’t really get what I tried to tell you at all.” 

“Oh really? And what was it that you were trying to tell me?” 

He stood up, now looking down slightly at her. He had grown much taller since the last time they stood this close to each other. “Soulmates don’t have to be romantic, Mari. We can be platonic soulmates and have a romantic relationship with someone else!” he spat out, matching her glare. 

She stepped back from him when she saw how serious he was. Last year she chalked it up to his mom leaving, but didn’t realize he was serious when he said he didn’t want to have a romantic relationship together. 

“You’re not serious,” Marinette tried to reason. “You just think that because of Isabelle.” How could he be serious about this? About being platonic soulmates? She had understood after a couple of weeks, although she was still a bit perplexed by this position of being platonic soulmates. But she accepted it. She listened to her parents who told her to leave him alone and that he would come around. He was her best friend, _her soulmate_ , she had to trust him.

Her eyes searched his, a lot of time had passed and he was  _still_ _on this?_ “ You're not serious,” she repeated, softer than the first time when he didn’t answer. 

He looked at her with apology in his eyes. “If I wasn’t serious, why would our fight last this long? I told you, Mari, but you just didn’t listen.” 

Something about his easy dismissal of her caused the hurt to flare up again. “Adrien, I’m your soulmate. **_You didn’t even ask me_**! You don't get to make these life-changing decisions by yourself!” Marinette shouted while throwing her hands up. The _you selfish jerk,_ going unspoken, but very much heard. 

“What was there to ask? We’re platonic soulmates, that’s that.” Adrien shrugged before walking over to the couch. Marinette huffed and followed him, not ready to give up. 

A part of her wanted to laugh at the space between them, Adrien sitting as far away from her as possible and her doing the same. She had had her first kiss with him on this very couch and now the distance between them spread like a festering wound in their relationship. She wanted some way to close the rift that opened after Isabelle had left, someway to close the gap and build a bridge to connect her back to Adrien. Her soulmate. Her best friend. 

There was a quiet pause while Marinette tried to gather her thoughts. Tried to figure out how she could take him off the _ridiculous_ notion that they were _platonic_ soulmates. They practically spent their entire lives knowing that one day they would marry each other and have a family together. She had been designing her wedding gown for years. Those dreams couldn’t just end.

“I don’t want to be platonic soulmates Adrien. Can't we talk about it?” Marinette asked firmly. 

Adrien sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “You can’t force me to be in a romantic relationship with you, Mari.” 

“I’m not,” she sputtered indigenously. “I would never force you, Adrien. I just don’t get why you never even talked about this with me. It’s important! And it's like you don't even care.” 

“We did talk, a year ago,” Adrien pointed out. 

She shot him a scorching glare. “That wasn’t a conversation. You talked and told me what was going on. And you didn’t even listen to me.” 

“Did you listen to me?” Adrien asked. “I don’t want to have a romantic relationship with you. I like someone else.” 

Marinette’s breath got caught in her throat and she closed her eyes for a long moment. It hurt, maybe even worse than when he had first yelled at her. Something like hope, which she had desperately been holding onto for the last year, began to die out.

 “Who?” 

Adrien shrugged. “Does it matter?” 

“I would like to know who you think would be better for you to be with, than your own soulmate. So please enlighten me,” she said in a chipped tone, ice beginning to run in her veins. She bit the bottom of her inner lip and tried to suppress a snarl. He has a crush on _someone else._ Why was this happening to her? To _them_? 

Adrien shifted his eyes from side to side, clearly not wanting to respond. Marinette stared at him, determined to wait until he told her. The battle of the wills was won by Marinette when Adrien sighed and mumbled something unintelligible. 

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Marinette asked, growing increasingly impatient.   

Adrien pursed his lips, “Ladybug,” he said again, sounding both confident and defensive. 

Marinette froze and felt like a bunch of bells were going off in her head. He liked Ladybug? The person he thinks that would be better for him than his soulmate, is _Ladybug._  

“Ladybug,” she repeated, “Hero of Paris, the yo-yo wielding superhero. _That_ Ladybug?” Adrien’s face lit up red and Marinette felt a small smile grow on her face. “Oh,” she said struggling to keep the laughter out of her tone.

 This was so perfect. It proved her right, they are meant to be romantic soulmates.

 Adrien looked ready to defend himself before she cut in, “You’re in love with Ladybug?” Her tone probably contained some skepticism because Adrien let out an aggravated sigh.

 “I didn’t say _in love_ ,” he said, looking aggravating. “I said _like_. It could turn into love one day though.”

 One day soon, Marinette thought as a plan hatched in her head.

  _If Adrien wants to get with Ladybug, then he’ll be with Ladybug_ , something petty in her said.

She pretended to pause in thought and said in a slow tone, “I guess if you want to be in a romantic relationship with Ladybug, then I can’t stop you.”

“Thank you,” Adrien said with a smile. He put his hand on her shoulder. “I’m glad you finally see it my way.”

_Yeah sure she does._ Fine, if he wanted to date her alter ego then she wouldn't stop him. They’ll go on a few dates, let him have the fantasy, but he would insist at some point that Ladybug reveal herself, and maybe Marinette would encourage him.

Once he found out the truth, then he’d finally see her point. They’re soulmates, they were always going to end up together. He could rally and whine and have his temper tantrum but in the end, they’re _romantic_ soulmates no matter how hard he tried to fight it.

“Are you going to ask her out?” Marinette finally asked.

Adrien’s blush deepened. “I want to.”

“But she doesn’t even know you,” Marinette pointed out.

Adrien paused and then said, “My first step is to actually talk to her.”

Marinette leaned closer to him, as if they were still as close as they were when they were kids. She slightly closed the physical gap between them and rested her elbow on the edge of the couch while cradling her head in her hand. “Ladybug is a great choice for you, I would’ve fought harder if you said anyone else - other than myself of course.”

Adrien gave her a suspicious look with his eyes squinted and lips pursed. “You’re making fun of me.”

“I’m not!” Marinette shook her head in earnest. She was trying to hide her relief and go back into her role as Adrien’s best friend who he used to tell every secret to. “I honestly think you two would be great together. I’ll even do my best to be your wingman.”

Adrien’s eyebrows shot up, “You will?”

Being a wingman to get her soulmate to fall in love with her alter-ego? “Of course I will. That’s what’s best friend’s are for, right?” Marinette smiled.

The grateful earnest look Adrien shot back at her almost made her rethink her plan, but only for a second. But it’ll be better in the long-run, he’d understand. After all, they’re soulmates.

 

* * *

 

When Marinette said that she would help get him a date with Ladybug (though how _she_ would be able to was still a question), he was initially suspicious of course. It seemed like she was giving in too easy. But then again, maybe she saw that he had real feelings for Ladybug and wanted to be a good friend.

And that was a relief that took away all the tension he had over the past year. Well, there was still a little bit of residual stress, but it would clear up when they warm up to each other again. When they really are best friends again. All it took for her to see his point that they’re just platonic soulmates was to say he had feelings for someone else - which kind of made him feel like he should’ve said it a long time ago so he could’ve had his best friend back sooner.

“I’m so glad you’re my best friend Marinette,” Adrien said sincerely.

Marinette smiled softly in return. “I’ll always be your best friend Adrien. No matter what.”

"Promise?”

Marinette dawned a serious look and held out her pinky finger like they were little kids again. He brought his pinky finger to lock with hers. “Pinky promise,” she vowed. “We’ll always be best friends, even if you’re a terrible fencer.”

Adrien gasped in an exaggerated manner. “I got silver in the junior world championship last year!”

“Yeah silver, _not gold,_ ” she teased. She was teasing him, and he was never so happy to endure it because it meant that things were back to normal between them.

“You didn’t even place.” Adrien crossed his arms and resisted the urge to stick out his tongue. He knew that she realized that fact, too, because she laughed and playfully shoved him.

Marinette poked her finger at him. “I had a fashion show that week and you know it. If I did go, you would’ve been bronze while Julius got silver,” she jested, but they both knew that in the year-long break of their friendship Marinette threw herself into the fashion world and let her fencing skills go rusty.

“Let’s test those fencing skills shall we?” Adrien suggested as he got off the couch and extended a hand towards her. “A box of macarons for the winner of the match.”

Marinette rolled her eyes at him, but nevertheless took his hand and rose off the couch as well. “I got work to do. I should head back home.”

“Oh, so you interrupted your work time to come yell at me? I’m flattered.” Adrien mockingly fluttered his eyelashes with his other hand dainty placed on his chest. He was actually grateful that she did, because otherwise the fight would’ve dragged on. But he remembered how packed her schedule could be and the more time she spent on work the less time she had free for other things.

Marinette looked hesitant and bit her lip. “Unless you want to help me do the work?”

Adrien was slightly surprised but the sudden request. “I’m not much of a designer, Mari.”

“No, no,” she laughed lightly. “I’m going to work on the DCA blog, pick out some things to wear, and meet up with Victor to take pictures. Do you want to come with?”

Working in the fashion industry was not one of Adrien’s favorite things to do, but he didn’t hate it. Especially when he worked with Marinette because she made everything more fun. And his photography skills, like Marinette’s fencing skills, were a little rusty so it would be a great time to practice being on the other side of a camera again. “I’m in.”

It was also a great excuse to spend more time with his best friend.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the unexpected hiatus guys! The holidays and a family vacation just put Love Jumps on the back burner but I'm back. I promise I'm not deserting the series! Thanks for all your support and patience. Kudos and comments are always appreciated, I love reading all the comments (even though it sometimes takes me a while to respond - whoops my bad). You can find me at callmemilady22.tumblr.com if you want


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